Imposter lawyer jailed for 20 years after R1m fraud spree

Zuko Komisa

A Rustenburg imposter, Kagiso Josias Selomane, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for defrauding victims of over R1 million while posing as a lawyer in courts across the North West and Johannesburg.
The court found that Selomane committed nine counts of fraud between 2011 and 2015, demanding upfront payments for legal services he never provided and deceiving clients by pretending their cases were being heard.
The sentence was handed down after the magistrate highlighted the premeditated nature of the crimes and the fact that Selomane had previous convictions, with a portion of the sentences running concurrently to form the effective 20-year term.

A man who defrauded victims of over R1 million while posing as a lawyer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court.

Kagiso Josias Selomane, 45, was found guilty on nine counts of fraud after a long-running scam that saw him pretend to be a legal practitioner between 2011 and 2015. He operated in courts across the North West province and Johannesburg, preying on people seeking help with divorce and labour disputes.

Selomane’s con was simple yet effective: he would demand upfront payments for legal services he never intended to provide. In a particularly cruel twist, he would sometimes convince his victims that they were attending a court hearing, even sitting with them in empty courtrooms and claiming their case had been postponed. In reality, no legal proceedings had been scheduled.

He also masqueraded as a bank executor, using his deception to siphon off more than R1 million from unsuspecting clients over four years.

His fraudulent scheme came to an end on 20 October 2015 after several victims reported him to the police. During the trial, State Advocate Rodger Mareume argued that Selomane’s guilty plea was not genuine and that he showed no remorse and had not repaid his victims.

In his sentencing, Magistrate Samuel Mabogo noted that the crimes were premeditated and committed over an extended period. The court also highlighted that Selomane had previous fraud convictions dating back to 2017.

While he was given separate sentences for each count, they will run concurrently, leading to an effective 20-year sentence. Selomane was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.